ST. LOUIS – The Dodgers had their issues with Cardinals pitching over the weekend. And those issues might linger.

Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez were hit in the left hand by pitches during the three-game series. Ramirez was hit in the left shoulder as well.

Puig was hit during Saturday’s loss and left the game. A fluoroscan after the game showed no fracture but the Dodgers want Puig to undergo more complete X-rays when the team gets to Pittsburgh on Monday. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he was told by head trainer Stan Conte “no baseball stuff” for Puig until after the second examination.

“We’re obviously going to be cautious,” Mattingly said. “But we think it’s going to be okay.”

Ramirez, meanwhile, left Sunday’s game in the ninth inning after getting hit for the second time. A similar preliminary exam was “negative,” according to Mattingly. Ramirez dismissed the idea of a follow-up exam Monday and said he expected to be in the lineup Monday against the Pirates.

“We’ll see,” Mattingly said.

Puig has been the one outfielder immune to the vagaries of Mattingly’s handling of the Dodgers’ crowded outfield. But his production has declined since he was the National League’s Player of the Month in May. He has just one home run since May 28 and a .257 average in his past 38 games.

“At this point, I’m more concerned about his hand than anything else,” Mattingly said, dismissing talk of Puig’s downturn as a slump. “I think guys that can hit are going to hit. Anything with him or any other guy we feel has talent and can do it – it’s just going to be a matter of catching fire again.”

POWER DOWN

The Dodgers’ offense came back to life in Sunday’s 4-3 victory. But the power remains out.

The Dodgers have hit just six home runs in the month of July (the fewest in the majors), none since Miguel Rojas hit his first major-league home run on July 9 in Detroit. The Dodgers also entered play Sunday with a .355 slugging percentage for July that ranked 27th in the majors.

“Well, we hope that’s temporary,” Mattingly said. “I don’t really know how to explain home runs. I never really worry about home runs. I worry about the at-bats. What I really look at more as if we’re having good quality at-bats, we’re going to score runs – either with the home run or doubles or whatever it is. So I look for the quality of the at-bats to hopefully get better as a group. That’s the main thing.

“That’s the way I’d look at it – the more quality at-bats we put together the better chance we have of hitting the ball out of the ballpark.”

GUERRERO PROGRESS

Cuban infielder Alex Guerrero took another step forward in his recovery from the May 20 incident during which a large portion of his left ear was bitten off by a teammate.

After seven games with the Dodgers’ Arizona Summer League team, Guerrero moved his rehab assignment to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and went 1 for 2 with a double while playing two innings at second base.

Guerrero was 8 for 23 (.348) with a double and two home runs in Arizona while playing three infield positions – second base, shortstop and third base. The plan is for him to play five games with the Quakes and continue to rotate among those three positions as his rehab progresses.

“We just want to give him the best chance to be ready for whatever Ned (Colletti) and Donnie need,” Dodgers vice president of player development DeJon Watson said.

When the Dodgers signed Guerrero last summer, it was with the expectation that he would be their primary second baseman this season. Dee Gordon took that position away from Guerrero in spring training and earned a selection to the National League All-Star team while leading the majors in stolen bases and triples.

Guerrero had started playing other positions just before the altercation with then-teammate Miguel Olivo. Guerero underwent plastic surgery to reattach a portion of his ear bitten off by Olivo and several follow-up procedures. He was unable to do any baseball activities for five weeks.

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